The Ideal
by Mister Vix
Summary: This is, in fact, sequel to "The Real." Welcome to the year 2024, the heart of Seren's Chinatown. It only goes to show that some things never really change...especially not one specific petshop.
1. Chapter 1: Year: 2024

**The Ideal**

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Chapter One:  
Year:2024

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Author's Notes:  
This is, in fact, a sort of loose "sequel" to **The Real**. That's what it's intended as, anyway, I suppose you could simply take it however you wish. I guess some people would rather **The Real** stay a one-shot without continuation, but I'm being bothered by this so I went ahead and decided to write it. I was spurred to it because I had the feeling most people interpreted the way **The Real** ended in one way, while I myself was thinking something a bit different. This explains what was in my mind.  
This is very odd, and...well, let's just see.

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The city street was choking, full of life to the brim. Full of people's voices, people's breath. A few dozen years ago it would've been full of car exhaust, but the Pollution Revolution—a ridiculous but catchy name for the years between 2009 and 2014—had taken care of all that. People didn't really use cars anymore, after all. 

Nonetheless, a fragrance so fragile and fleeting as the delicate incense that burned inside the doors of a mysterious building would be crushed the instant it escaped. This is it rarely did, save for when those heavily carved doors were swung open as a customer entered or exited. The heart of Seren's Chinatown was no place for such an aroma, after all. Too busy for calm and contemplative flavors in the air.

Still, Anichee Lee—who cursed her name regularly, and called herself Ann—swung open the door and just stood for a moment, closing her eyes and seeming to bask in the strange air of the place she had finally found. Count D's Petshop, it was called—it had opened very recently, and it had taken Ann forever to find the place. But she'd finally found the elusive shop, and it was time to venture inside.

The instant the door closed behind her—totally of its own volition, it seemed—all the noise of the city was swallowed up, ceasing to exist beneath the barrage of sounds coming from the animals within. Birds screeching, dogs barking, cats yowling...and more exotic cries, which the city-raised Ann could not identify. Her gaze flickered about every which way, taking in all that she could.

The place was dark. The only light came from some vague, uncertain source; perhaps a lamp obscured by the shrouding black-and-red velvet drapes? The air was thick, heavy and warm with incense, not at all fitting with the somewhat chilly temperament of the current weather in Seren. She felt her eyelids already becoming slightly heavy, a lethargy creeping stealthily into her veins.

"Hello," a smooth voice murmured, and she jumped. "Welcome to Count D's petshop. How may I help you?" The man speaking was, in a word, gorgeous. His black hair was thick and silken, the deeply vibrant colors of his obviously foreign dress somehow mutedly reflected amongst the perfectly groomed strands. The deep red of his lips was not stained or painted in place, somehow seeming the only thing fitting to counter the bone-paleness of his flawless skin. His mysterious eyes were of mismatched colors, one mesmerizing amethyst, the other taunting gold. A treasure to look at. He looked as though he must be cold to the touch.

"You're Count D?" she gasped out, and the man's smile widened a notch as he shook his head very slightly.

"I am his grandson," he explained. "I am watching his shop for him...for a time. He is away on his travels."

"Oh," Ann replied, softly. "Well, I just want to look around...if that's okay?" The man nodded, turning away and seeming to glide more than walk back to his desk, apparently leaving the red-haired girl in the baseball jersey and worn jean shorts to do as she would.

She made certain to take full advantage of that, wandering about the room, interestedly studying decorations and free-roaming animals alike. She paused momentarily when she encountered, apparently soundly asleep in a corner, a massive beast which looked to be some merge of goat and tiger, shaggy red fur and great, curling horns. She decided, quite wisely, to leave the sleeping beast lie.

"Oh...my..." she whispered, when she saw _it_. And she knew why she'd come. There could be no other reason. This _had_ to be what had drawn her here, she was certain. It was stretched out on a sofa, watching her with lazy eyes of enchanted blue. She couldn't really tell what it was—some sort of cat? But not.

It resembled a great puma, head resting on its broad forepaws, save its fur was pure, shimmering gold. Brass-colored spines protruded from the ridge of its back, and the tail which it twitched lazily was not so at all—it was a serpent, watching her with aquamarine, lidless eyes as its head darted hypnotically to and fro. The cat's hind paws were not paws at all but cloven hooves, amber in shade, and it possessed bat-styled wings of bronze, folded closely to its shoulders. A pair of black, arched horns extended from the back of the cat's skull, and its ears were elongated.

"What is it?" Ann whispered, beginning to reach out. With a soft _hough_, the cat laid its long, sharply-tapered ears back, the pupils of its intense eyes flicking with a low inner light, fire-red. It was gone as soon as it had appeared, but it made the woman draw back instantly.

"He was once called a chimera," was the Count's quiet answer, and she jumped; she had never even noticed the Chinese man's approach, too absorbed in watching the beast. "His blood flows hot and cold, and his skin possesses both scales and fur. He is neither mammal nor reptile, but falls on the line between."

As if on some sort of cue, the chimera suddenly raised his head off his paws, stretching his jaws in a broad yawn. His teeth were like diamond sheet metal, and the tongue that slid out from his mouth was split into three tips at the end.

"How much do you want for him?" she demanded breathlessly, daring, again, to reach down. The cougar-esque creature ignored her, and she stroked his golden head. Beneath the short coat, she could feel the hard slickness of scales. "Anything you can name, you've got it." The Count chuckled lightly.

"I am afraid this one is not for sale," he whispered, slowly drawing her away from the transfixing monster. "This chimera has a temper that has given me no end of difficulty; I would not dare sell him until I knew he would be perfectly well behaved." Ann gulped at the thought of the not-cat in a temper; his liquid-steel muscle was apparent even in repose, promising that he was more than capable of dismantling most anyone he felt like.

"Do you have any others like him?" she asked, looking at D hopefully. It would not be as perfect as this one, this chimera which had spellbound her the moment she'd seen him, but perhaps she could make do with a look-alike. With an odd little smile, the Count shook his head.

"That chimera is the only one of his kind. I have other chimeras, but none of them would be what you seek," he said, and slowly, the shop seemed to grow more and more silent. Ann looked about hesitantly, becoming confused as, one by one, the animals crept away to parts unknown. Even the sleeping beast in the corner stirred, snarling discontently as it ambled off down a darkened hallway.

"My petshop sells love, dreams, and hope, second chances and new wishes to those who desire them," the enigmatic man murmured, his half-lidded gaze now becoming something that encouraged Ann to take a step back. But there was someone behind her, someone who towered over her in height. With a tiny squeak she turned around, her gaze going up to meet that of this other person.

The chimera. She knew it instantly, even though he had abandoned most all of his animal appearance. He was a golden-haired young man, silently watching her, expression very serious. Very scrutinizing. His eyes hunted for something, anything, that might somehow incriminate her of something which she knew nothing about. He wore a slightly ragged black t-shirt, old jeans that had become tattered. Through the holes she could see the glitterings of a tattoo of a golden serpent wound about his thigh, and around his neck was a choker made of linked brass spines.

"Your desire is this chimera, _my_ chimera. It took me many long and painfully trying years to hatch him from his shell, to teach him to trust my hand." She was caught between the two, her eyes wide. The chimera was no longer watching her, but D, his blue eyes intent and unreadable.

"You came here seeking nothing, and found the most precious of my animals..." the Count's voice was almost but not quite threatening. "How do you expect to keep him? To feed him? To provide all that is needed to maintain his happiness? For, I assure you, anything less would result in a most unpleasant fate for any human involved."

"Look, I'm sorry, or whatever," Anichee said, trying to find a way around them so she could escape. No such route was apparent. "I get the point, stupid of me to assume pets are for sale at a petshop, I'm going now!" But she couldn't go anywhere.

"Very well," the Chinese man said suddenly, as though she'd been saying something completely different. The look in his eyes said she'd best not argue. "Come. You need but read and sign the contract, and he is yours." Ann blinked at him.

"...What?" she demanded, but D was back at his desk, with contract in hand. She stumbled forward when the silent chimera gave her a small nudge, but recovered herself quickly. "I mean...that's it? You're letting me have him?" D nodded.

"You need only obey _all_ the rules on this contract," he said, and she scurried quickly to the desk, snatching the document from his hands.

The contract read as such:  
_1. Allow him to have as much space as he wishes.  
__2. Do not attempt to restrict his freedom in any way, shape, or form.  
__3. Feed him only what is provided by the petshop.  
__4. Immediately inform the owner of the petshop if anything untoward should happen._

"If you fail to adhere to any of these guidelines, this shop is in no way responsible for the consequences," D informed her, and she nodded, now grinning brightly. She'd been caught.

"Okay, got it! Can do! What's the price?" she asked, prepared to dig a credit card from her pocket. The strange Chinese fellow only shook his head.

"For the time being, there is no price. I must prepare all that is required; please stop by tomorrow to pick him up," the Count requested, and, with a few more ecstatic exclamations, Ann left.

The instant she was gone, the chimera shook his head and chuckled.

"We only just got here, and the first thing you do is sell me off to some girl? Real nice, Count. Had no idea you were so sick of me already," the beast laughed, sitting down on the sofa once more. He made an odd sort of gesture, moving his hand as if to start searching in his pocket, then stilled the appendage with a visible effort of will. His eyes glittered with something more than mere amusement as he watched the petshop's caretaker.

"Oh really, Leon," D sighed, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. "You know as well as I do that she won't last a month. And even if she did, I wouldn't think you'd be bothered." The kami smirked at his favorite pet, who snorted loudly and, snake-like, flicked his thrice-split tongue.

"Hope you don't plan on me eating her or something, D," he warned. "I'm not gonna do that."

"Of course not," was the kami's reply. "You could not eat her if you wanted to, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered sourly. "Don't remind me. I miss hamburger enough as it is."

"Well, some sacrifices must be made to attain the things you have, Leon," D informed. "Humans have the saying, 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained.' Something like this, changing a human into a beast, even as one as loosely defined as a chimera, has never been done before. You are lucky that drinking my blood is the only requirement you have to maintain your immortality. And remember, it is only until you are fully-fledged."

Leon muttered something, then sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, I know. Coulda gone a lot worse." Then he grinned, showing off his wicked teeth. "I coulda still been crazy." D smiled slightly at his most precious chimera.

"Thank the higher gods I could draw you out of that madness," the kami whispered. "I do not know what I would have done otherwise." Leon snorted, then put on a slow, suggestive smile.

"Well, we've still got some time left before the next human shows up here...what d'you say we have some fun?" he growled, reaching out to grab D's wrist and drag the small creature onto his lap.

Yes, Leon decided as his tongue searched the inside of D's mouth, following paths that he knew very well by now; losing his humanity had been well worth it.

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Endnotes:  
Chapters will remain short. Booyah.


	2. Chapter 2: Location: Seren City, ArchSta...

**The Ideal

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Chapter Two:  
Location: Seren City, Arch-State

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Author's Notes:  
Rar! I'm liking the response this thing's getting. It makes me a happy Vix.

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"_Yes... Come." Leon was willing to do anything, possible or not, to obey. He could never have let go, never ever, couldn't let go. The Chinese count slid his hands about to Leon's front, fingers splayed on his chest, head resting on the man's shoulder. His smile was very gentle._

_That was when D curled his fingers, and his nails bit through fabric and into flesh. Leon jerked sharply, but made no move to pull away as the kami's hands dragged downwards, slicing his body open. _

_Leon made not a sound as he was forced backwards, sprawled on the hard bed. He didn't question any of it as D's slim fingers dug deep. The kami pushed the sleeve of his cheongsam back, and clenched his hand. Now the blonde made some sound—but it was only a low noise, and it was not one of pain. There was no pain. Only a melting heat, a feeling of...transcending._

_D coaxed Leon into his arms, and he simply left his body behind. It was unnecessary. He was aware of something new to him, that his limbs, his _being_, was not what it had been. It was far more; veins that flowed light rather than blood, eyes that saw the world rather than the shroud they were accustomed to._

_He was aware that he was quite small—the size of a cat, perhaps, and curled up in D's arms. From what he saw of himself, he _was_ a cat, of unusual nature. And he was tired. And hungry._

_It was by D's prompting that he bit into the kami's wrist, forked tongue sliding over the wound. It healed the moment he left it be, and, sated, the newborn chimera drifted to sleep in the Count's arms.

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Leon snorted when he awoke, stretching himself and listening to the low, popping crackle of his joints. His dreams had been rather repetitive since then, just making sure he never forgot a single detail of how he'd given up what he was then in favor of what he was now.

It had been a weird experience, re-learning life. He'd been so shattered, he almost hadn't...

Leon stretched his jaws in a broad yawn. In the early morning, his shape was most fluid, undecided on beast or man. It would settle quickly enough, and this time he took his human appearance, looking about until he spotted D. He grinned as the kami came into the room.

"Hey," he greeted, draping an arm over the Count's slender shoulders. He nuzzled the man's hair, growling lowly in a pleasant fashion.

"Good morning, Leon," D replied, his voice just a tinge distracted. The chimera did not fail to notice, but he didn't bother just yet. He was hungry after last night's antics. He could worry about what was on D's mind after he'd fed.

In the beginning, he'd been too out of it to even realize he'd been drinking D's blood. By the time he'd gotten enough sense back that it struck him this didn't seem quite right, he knew there was no other way to go. The kami's blood sustained him, and nothing else would.

Still, he wouldn't dare sink his teeth into D's wrist without prior permission. Permission which the Count gave wordlessly, offering his ever-scarless wrist for Leon to drink from. He never flinched, even the one time his chimera had gotten a bit out of control, early on.

"Hmm," Leon mumbled against D's rapidly healing skin. "Something tastes funny. What's up?" He really had no idea what that tiny difference in the flavor of D's blood might be, only knew that it stirred something in his beast-nature, something he couldn't yet identify. Not strong enough yet.

"Oh?" D asked, his attention not quite snapping back to the real world. "Oh...well..." He allowed his hand to drop, and he studied the floor for a few long moments. "This has happened at a _most_ inopportune time. I must still be regaining my land legs from the trip here; I was not being careful, it seems, and..." He lapsed into a silence which made Leongrumble discontently as he tugged D into his arms.

"And?" he prompted, but at that moment a customer entered the shop.

To the man's eyes, it appeared a very unusual mountain lion was standing pressed against the shopkeeper's side, looking aggravated and nudging the Chinese fellow with his golden head.

"Oh, my," the man said, his voice sounding disinterestedly civil, "a very gorgeous cat." Then he immediately turned his attention to the shop's owner. "I was wondering if you had any particularly dangerous reptiles? Or perhaps a spider?"

"Looking for a gift for someone?" D questioned, mysterious amusement glittering in his eyes. The man nodded. "I have the perfect animal. Please, come with me."

Leon grumbled as he watched the two walk away down the hall. He knew who the man would wind up with; D had acquired a double-tailed scorpion recently, and she had been itching for foul play the entire time she'd been here. She was eager to sting "friend" and "foe" alike, as over-inquisitive Pon-chan had learned.

The chimera's assumption was proved correct when the man left, a small girl with curly black hair and onyx-like eyes skipping along at his heels, her grin and giggle one of only barely concealed malice. In her animal shape, that scorpion was the size of a small dog.

"End result?" Leon asked, only mildly interested. D smirked knowingly.

"He will break the first rule, I believe," the kami replied in a tone that could be equated with devilish laughter from anyone else. "He is to show her to no one but her intended receiver, but I think his desire to boast his purchase beforehand will be his end."

The cat-beast only snorted, then stretched his arms and flopped onto the sofa which all but had his name on it.

It was at that moment that the resident tou-tetsu made his blustering, snarling entrance. Leon and Tet-chan had despised one another from the very beginning, but after the blonde utterly replaced the goat-beast as D's most treasured pet, it had very nearly become outright war. Only the knowledge that killing the other would make D upset stayed the two from ever making lethal blow.

"Heya, sunshine," Leon snorted mockingly, and the shaggy monster, who had grown huge over the years, snarled loudly at him before walking over to D and whining piteously with unchanged volume.

"Oh, Tet-chan," the kami sighed, "you are such a jealous creature. It is unbecoming." The tou-tetsu shot Leon a glare of pure murder, blaming him for absolutely everything.

"Lousy, filthy thing," he growled, "he's nothing but a putrid leech!" Leon flashed him a cocky grin, a threat of teeth that had cut through thick fur and into tou-tetsu flesh more than once before.

"'Least I'm not last-week's news," he spat with cheerful venom, and Tetsu very nearly flinched. Then, with an enraged bellow, he lunged.

The battle was brief, but sufficiently bloody. The two were well-matched in strength, but Leon was the more agile, and so it was he who twisted out from beneath slashing claws and, with a swift, snapping movement, rolled the tou-tetsu onto his back, pressing one paw down on the shaggy chest, claws splayed but not digging in.

Then he backed off, idly licking a particularly deep gash on his forearm, allowing the tou-tetsu to limp away and sulk without further harassment. That was always the way it was; the loser was simply let go, allowed to nurse their injured pride back to full health, ensuring another spat was soon to come.

"Anyway, D," Leon said then, looking up to catch the kami's gaze, "were you gonna tell me what you were talking about with not being careful?"

The Chinese man opened his mouth...and the door swung open. Leon muttered a curse as Anichee walked in, all bouncy exuberance. She paused when she saw the long slice in Leon's forearm, and D immediately threw on his shopkeeper mask.

"I am afraid, as I said, this chimera has a temper," the kami said in a musing voice. "He was involved in a fight with one of the other animals." She nodded slowly, glancing at the great cat again.

At one time, the shortness of her miniskirt would have caught Leon's attention—Ann was by no means unattractive—but now he only rolled his eyes at it.

"_She's asking to get raped_," he informed the Count, though all Ann heard was a low, exasperated growl. The kami's mysterious smile quirked a notch wider, but he did not comment, even though he could speak in such a way that a human would never know he was even talking.

He inclined his head very slightly in greeting, then turned about and opened a drawer of his desk. That drawer, Leon knew, was usually empty.

At least until a customer walked in the door. Now, he produced from it several items. A brush, of course; a chain-link leash and tan leather collar which made Leon groan; and a slip of paper with the telephone number of the petshop written on it.

"Please wait here while I retrieve his food," D said, and disappeared into the back of the shop. Ann took this moment to study her new pet.

"I know I wasn't imagining things," she informed the cat, "I _know_ you looked human yesterday." The only reply she got was a snort, and then D returned, a clear container filled with something dark red in his hands.

"You must keep it refrigerated," the petshop's keeper instructed, handing it to her. "He will let you know when he needs to be fed."

"Hey," she said, trying to juggle the various items she held, "this looks like..."

"It is blood, of a very special kind," D replied with a tiny smirk. "This chimera is of a very exotic breed. He cannot digest anything but this."

"Oh," was her bland reply. She only maintained her silence for a brief while, however, before grinning again and kneeling down beside Leon. "Does he have a name?"

"He is called On-chan," D replied, a smirk hidden in his voice. Leon tossed his head and groaned; that was Pon-chan's nickname for him! Still, he knew D rarely told the owners the true names of the pets—when he told the owners any name for the pet at all, instead of just letting them pick whatever name they liked. The chimera supposed he was lucky to end up with "On-chan," instead of whatever name the girl might've come up with.

Nonetheless, Leon could not resist throwing a look of pure suffering at the Count, who only smiled encouragingly. The cougar creature _houghed_ as the collar was fastened about his neck, followed quickly by the chain leash. He could've snapped it like a bit of string if he wanted, but he wasn't allowed. Not until the contract was broken could he turn on his new owner.

"Come, On-chan!" she chirped, tugging the leash, apparently forgetting that on the other end was several hundred pounds of pure muscle. His snake-tail flicking with agitation, Leon allowed himself to be led.

As soon as the door closed behind them, D sighed, leaning against his desk and rubbing the tips of his fingers against his forehead.

"This bit of news will be even more difficult to tell Leon now..."

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"This is your new home, On-chan!" Ann announced, gesturing at the three-story white-and-brick house with the iron gate. Obviously, Anichee Lee was quite well off. Not mansion-rich, but very comfortable in her financial situation.

Leon followed her, mostly silent save for the clattering of hooves on the stone walk up to the door. An older woman swung that door open before Ann could put her hand on the knob, looking out and smiling when she saw Ann. That smile faded when she saw the huge puma-thing trailing the girl.

"Mom, this is On-chan! The cat I told you about!" she said cheerfully, while pushing past the stunned woman. Ann went quickly for the kitchen to the left of the entrance hall, putting the container of blood away in the fridge.

"But Anichee," Ann's mother said, "I thought he'd be a bit...smaller?" She was obviously intimidated by the powerful animal who plopped himself down onto the carpeted floor in the middle of the hall, stretching out and looking like he thought he owned the place.

"You know I would never get a small cat," Ann replied happily, setting the brush on a shelf and taking the leash off Leon. Then she scratched the chimera behind his long ears, and he relented enough of his regal poise to rumble pleasantly, tilting his head back. He was supposed to play the pet, so he might as well enjoy it.

"Well..." apparently, Ann's mother wasn't certain what sort of argument she should employ against that, and so she never finished her statement, really. "He _is_ very beautiful..."

It wasn't long after that Leon started to explore. No room was closed to him—there weren't even any locks to pick. Nothing really caught his interest, save for a picture on the wall.

It showed a family of four. Anichee, her mother, and two other men. One was likely an older brother—he had the same red hair and blue eyes, but he looked a little less like Ann's mother, a little more like the other man in the picture. The father, presumably. But there was no evidence of anyone besides Ann and her mother living in the house...

He hadn't even been aware that he'd taken on his human form, studying the picture intently, until there was a tiny gasp behind him. Ann was there, staring at him.

"I knew you looked human!" she whispered, then shook her head sharply, walking up next to him and staring at the picture as well. She reached out with a slightly trembling hand, sliding a fingertip along the frame.

"That's father and Davis," she said. Leon looked at her for a moment, considering. She was a lot younger in the picture—maybe only thirteen, while now she was around twenty.

"Father left," she explained, quietly, "after Davis got killed in a car accident. Father had been the one driving. I guess...he couldn't stop blaming himself for what happened."

Leon knew the whole pet business inside and out. He was supposed to be what she needed, whether that was a friend, a cohort, or an executioner. And right now, she just needed an accepting, unjudging audience. So he made no comment, only looking back at the picture thoughtfully.

However, there was definitely something sour about this setup. He could smell it, under the tears that were very real. Both his old cop instinct, and his newer beast nature, could detect something false in that sob-story. Something to be wary of.

For now, he was silent. For now.

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Endnotes:

Leon's "pet nickname" was caught between being "Lee-chan" or "On-chan." I decided I like "On-chan" better because it was sillier. Haha. On-chan...oh, I don't know.


End file.
